HOUSTON — New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone vividly remembers the poise and confidence 16-year-old Jasson Domínguez displayed when he watched him take batting practice at the team’s academy in the Dominican Republic in 2019.
“Right then he got your attention,” Boone said. “It was like, it’s a 16-year-old kid [and] you see the skill set right in front of you. He had that kind of easy smile to him, handles himself really well.”
Domínguez wowed everyone Friday night, hitting a two-run homer off Houston ace Justin Verlander in his first major league at-bat, an early highlight in New York’s 6-2 win.
At just 20 years, 206 days old, Domínguez became the youngest Yankees player to homer in his first game. He was the first Yankees player to go deep in his initial big league at-bat since Aaron Judge on Aug. 13, 2016.
Additionally, it was just the second time a player homered off a reigning Cy Young Award winner in his first at-bat, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The other was Marcus Thames — also for the Yankees — on June 10, 2002, off Randy Johnson.
After Domínguez swatted his opposite-field home run to the short porch in left off a three-time Cy Young Award winner twice his age, TV cameras panned to his family, who screamed and jumped around after watching the ball leave the yard for a 3-0 lead in the first inning.
Four years after Boone saw him taking batting practice as a teenager, the highly touted prospect was a huge hit in his big league debut. The switch-hitting outfielder and another promising youngster, catcher Austin Wells, were called up from the minors by the last-place Yankees when rosters expanded Friday.
“Everyone’s excited for them and excited to see them,” Boone said before the game. “Both [are] talented guys who earned this opportunity, and looking forward to watching them go spread their wings and continue to develop and hopefully see some good things.”
Domínguez is expected to be the team’s everyday center fielder after Harrison Bader was claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds, and Boone said Wells will also play a lot over the last month of the season.
“When I heard the news, it was a special moment,” Domínguez said in Spanish through a translator before the game. “Just to be here, very excited. Happy to be right here today, and it’s a special day.”
Wells is regarded more for his bat than his defense, but he’s hoping to show he can be a valuable contributor in both areas in the majors.
“I’m here to do that as well and play and help the team win,” he said. “So, that’s my goal and if I can do it in any way, I’ll do it any way.”
Expectations have been high for Domínguez since he received a $5.1 million bonus when he signed with the Yankees. His unique combination of strength and speed at such a young age earned him a catchy nickname: The Martian.
But he said he doesn’t feel any added pressure because of that.
“I haven’t really been paying too much attention to all that, all the comments and all the information about me,” he said. “I’m not much on social media. I’m not reading a lot of the different articles that are written. I just try to focus on what I can do and try to play my game and better myself so that I can fulfill whatever expectation there is being the best I can be.”
Domínguez became the youngest player to appear in a game for the Yankees since 19-year-old pitcher José Rijo in July 1984 — and the youngest position player since 20-year-old outfielder Stan Javier in April 1984.
Boone is certainly aware of the expectations people have for Domínguez and believes he’ll live up to them.
“I think he’s going to be a really good player,” Boone said. “I really do. [He’s] not a finished product. And we’ll see how his journey goes. He’s obviously a very young man, super talented. I think when we look up in several years, we’re going to see a really good player in front of us and he gets to start to write that script, in the big leagues anyway, starting today.”
Domínguez joins the team after playing just nine games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season. He hit .419 with two doubles and 10 RBIs there after batting .254 with 15 homers and 66 RBIs in 109 games for Double-A Somerset.
The 24-year-old Wells singled off Verlander in his first plate appearance. Wells hit .254 with five homers and 20 RBIs in 33 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was a first-round draft pick out of Arizona in 2020.
Judge, meanwhile, also got in on the action.
He became the fastest player in major league history to reach 250 home runs with a solo shot off Verlander in the fifth inning.
Judge reached the milestone in his 810th career game, besting Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard, who did it in 2010 in his 855th game.
CLEVELAND — Guardians outfielder Lane Thomas left during the sixth inning of Friday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers due to mild plantar fascia symptoms with his right foot.
Thomas missed 11 games in late May and early June because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot. He is batting .160 this season and .197 (13-for-66) since coming off the injured list on June 9. He does have four homers in his past 10 games.
“We think he’s good. The plantar fasciitis flared up a little bit again and I just didn’t like the way he looked running around the outfield. So rather than take a chance, I got him out of there,” manager Stephen Vogt said after the 2-1 loss to the Tigers.
Thomas also missed five weeks due to a right wrist bone bruise after getting hit by a pitch during the April 8 home opener against the Chicago White Sox.
The Orioles received another boost as Tyler O’Neill came off the injured list with a single and a walk.
“I think they gave us two of the three runs,” said Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino, referring to O’Neill scoring on Cedric Mullins‘ two-run homer off Spencer Strider.
“Those are two really good players,” Mansolino said. “We’re still short. We’re still missing Adley [Rutschman], but a lot of credit to the guys. They went out there and put up three runs against probably one of the great pitchers in the game.”
Rutschman, Baltimore’s primary catcher, has been out since June 20 with an oblique strain.
Westburg has tried to play through his sprained left index finger. He left a game at the New York Yankees on June 21 before returning four days later against Texas and then having to leave a game after aggravating the injury on June 27.
“Is he 100%? Probably not,” Mansolino said before the game. “But I think he’s probably close.”
Close was good enough. When asked how he feels after his three-hit game, Westburg said, “Pretty good.”
“I’m willing to play through whatever I have,” Westburg said. “It just was at a point where I wasn’t able to swing a bat. As soon as I’m able and can, I want to be on the field as much as they’ll let me.”
O’Neill was the Orioles’ designated hitter in his return from a left shoulder impingement. He was placed on the injured list for the second time this year on May 16 after missing time earlier in the season with neck inflammation.
The contributions from Westburg and O’Neill, who combined to reach base five times, helped support Charlie Morton, who allowed six hits and two runs in 5⅓ innings in his return to Atlanta, where he pitched the past four seasons. Morton also began his career with the Braves.
Morton (5-7) improved to 5-0 in 10 appearances, including seven starts, since May 10.
“I spent basically half my career here,” Morton said. “Being drafted here, I spent seven years in the system, went to the big leagues, made my debut, got to play for Bobby Cox, got to play with some of the pillars of this organization and … come back and win a World Series here. Yeah, it’s a special place for me.”
Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.
CHICAGO — Fireworks in Chicago began early on Independence Day as the Cubs set a franchise record for a single game, hitting eight home runs on Friday, including three from first baseman Michael Busch in a rout of the St. Louis Cardinals.
“Especially to do it at Wrigley Field,” Busch said after the 11-3 win. “It’s really cool. I think that was my first three-homer game, ever. That’s one game I’ll never forget.”
Busch, 27, took Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas deep in the second and third innings then set a career mark with his third home run in the seventh off reliever John King. It was the first time a Cubs player hit three home runs in a game since Rafael Ortega on Aug. 1, 2021.
Busch wasn’t the only Cub to hit multiple home runs as Pete Crow-Armstrong hit two after making a diving catch in the first inning. Both Busch and Crow-Armstrong went 4-for-4 on the day, driving in seven of the team’s 11 runs. Busch drove in five.
The Cubs have been near the top of the league in most offensive rankings since early in the season as they extended their lead on the Cardinals to 6.5 games.
“It’s really easy to appreciate what we’re doing right now,” Crow-Armstrong said. “It’s also easy to just keep it going and not let that be something that we are dwelling on. It’s the best offense I’ve ever been a part of.”
Also homering for the Cubs on their record-setting day was designated hitter Seiya Suzuki, catcher Carson Kelly and shortstop Dansby Swanson. Manager Craig Counsell was asked to put the day in perspective considering the lengthy history of the franchise. It came a day after they beat the Cleveland Guardians 1-0.
“It’s the sport,” Counsell said with a smile. “It took us 10 innings to score one run yesterday. That’s what’s crazy about it. That’s why you turn the page every single day. We had a really good day, today.”
Mikolas set a Cardinals franchise record, giving up six of the eight home runs — all of which came in the first three innings. The Cardinals did break a scoreless streak on offense extending back to last Sunday when second baseman Brendan Donovan homered in the fourth inning. St. Louis scored two more times in the ninth off Cubs infielder Jon Berti, but by then the game was in hand.
Busch is the third Cubs player with a three-home run game against the Cardinals. In an odd twist, all three did it on Independence Day: Moises Alou on July 4, 2003, and Hank Leiber on July 4, 1939, according to ESPN Research.